Music

In ‘Training Season’, Dua Lipa Is Sick Of Shit Dates

by Ky Stewart  16 February 2024
dua lipa training season review

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It’s been a long time coming but the day has finally arrived. I’m talking about Dua Lipa’s newest single ‘Training Season’, naturally. 

I don’t mean to be dramatic but Future Nostalgia literally changed my life. I also think it changed the landscape of pop music but that’s a different conversation. I fear that Dua Lipa’s new album will have an unspeakable impact on my psyche. I will not apologise for the person I will become. 

Dua Lipa has heralded in her new era the way any cool girl does. New hair and an “who needs men?” attitude. Rather iconic if you ask me.  

‘Houdini’, the first single from the new album, instantly became one of my favourite songs of 2023. It’s the perfect mix of vampy 80s dance music and 2020’s pop. Dua makes music for the dancefloor and I respect that about a pop girl. I want to shake my ass and Dua Lipa knows that about me. She’s so considerate. 

Dua taught us all a lesson in patience, making us wait three months before giving us ‘Training Season’. We got a little taste of the song when she performed it at the 2024 Grammys but that simply wasn’t enough. I needed the song to be directly transferred into my brain. 

Can I be honest? My first reaction to ‘Training Season’ was “holy fuck”. I got full body chills that I only really get when listening to Kylie Minogue or Beyoncé. Pop music that transports your soul somewhere else. She reinvigorated pop music when we were all stuck in a global lockdown and now she’s back to do it again. Only this time, we all have access to a dance floor and she’s taking full advantage of it.

The first thing we learn from ‘Training Season’ is that Dua is fed up with shit men and their terrible dates. “Are you someone that I can give my heart to?/Or just the poison that I’m drawn to?/It can be hard to tell the difference late at night”. Get them, Dua! 

I know the feeling of giving your all to a man who quite literally couldn’t care less about you. The type of guy you could literally spend an entire weekend with and he’d still ask you what your name is. Ah the rush of unrequited love! 

Speaking on the inspiration behind the song, Dua said, “I had been on a string of bad dates, and the last one was the final straw. The next morning I arrived to the studio to Caroline [Ailin] and Tobias [Jesso Jr.] asking me how it all went and I immediately declared ‘TRAINING SEASON IS OVER’.” I love that Dua can just go into the studio and create magic after a bad date. I just cried in bed eating ice cream. Both valid experiences. 

Make no mistake, Dua isn’t here to hold your hand or be your mother. She wants someone “to hold me close/deeper than I’ve ever known/whose love feels like a rodeo/ who knows just how to take control/when I’m vulnerable he’s straight talking to my soul … Are you somebody who can go there?/Cause I don’t wanna have to show you”. Hear that boys? The training wheels are off. 

‘Training Season’ perfectly captures how exhausting dating can be. Having to give so much of yourself to a person just for them to fall short of your expectations before you have to do it all over again to somebody new. I don’t know how many more times I could tell someone what my favourite movie is before I lost my mind. But on the flip side, dating gives you a sense of empowerment. It teaches you what you want from a relationship and, for the most part, you learn to enjoy your own company. Confidence is the most attractive thing, after all. 

Dua has consistently proven that she is a force of nature when it comes to pop music. It beats in her heart and she’s leading the pack of pop girls at the moment. She understands the craft of pop music. She’s tapped Tame Impala’s very own Kevin Parker and Charli XCX / Caroline Polachek collaborator Danny L. Harle to produce ‘Training Season’. A team made in pop heaven. You get the recognisable Tame Impala synth blending with Danny’s 80s electronica persuasions. The result? A timeless pop dance song that boosts my excitement for the new album. 

And, just quickly, let’s talk about the music video. Dua surrounded by subpar men serving looks and looking stunning? I can relate.

Ky is a proud Kamilaroi and Dharug person and writer at Junkee. Follow them on Instagram or on X.

Image: Supplied